Thursday, July 31, 2014

Yesterday was our last day of summer. Well, it was the boys' last day of summer vacation. So I asked them, what was 1 thing that they wanted to do, that they felt they hadn't had a chance to do yet. Chris replied "Go to the Indiana State Museum". I had bought a membership back in June while they weren't with me, and I kept meaning to take them downtown, but just hadn't gotten a chance. Okie dokie. This was going to be our Museum Day!

First, I wanted to 'pop' into the Eiteljorg. It was the last week for the Ansel Adams exhibit. And I wanted to see it one more time. Kathleen and I had gotten some good ideas, we could buy some print postcards, and put them in a multiple frame for decoration. And she'd read an article about taking kids to art museums, and if you take them to the gift shop first, and pick out a postcard of their favorite picture, then we go into the museum to find it. I thought that was Brilliant. So we stopped at the Ansel Adams gift shop to pick out our favorite cards. I picked Moon and Half Dome. Sam picked Rose and Driftwood. Chris picked Yosemite Valley, Winter from Inspiration Point. Jake wanted to pick Aspens, but they didn't have a postcard for it. Actually, it was more like I wanted Aspens. But when we were walking through the exhibit, I pointed it out to the boys, and I said, that's the one Jake wanted...and Jake just looked at it, like he liked it too. Yeah, bud, me too! Ansel Adams had Mad Skills. So photography is not allowed in that exhibit. But the boys did really well in there, they each had their post card and they walked up to every picture and held up their cards to see if they matched. They got so excited when they found them. Poor Chris couldn't find his match, there was one that was close, but not quite. But frankly, I think I like Chris's picture better than the one that was close. His was a winter picture, the other wasn't. So I think I need to acquire the last postcard, and put them all in a frame, you know, for artsy purposes, because Ansel had such mad skills. You know, like Ansel and I are on a first name basis. ;)

Anyway, after going quickly through that exhibit, we went downstairs to the kids area. I told the kids I'd let them play if they let me get through the Ansel exhibit. So we all went downstairs to play, since they were so good for me.

First, we built a totem pole.

Then my boys dressed as cowboys.

Jacob has discovered a new trick - climbing up into the stroller. He thinks it's a great time. He makes me really nervous he's going to come crashing down on his head. But he thinks it's a great time. I'm not bugging him about it. When can I put him in gymnastics? But climbing the stroller wasn't enough for this little climber.

And they took over the stagecoach.

Even Jake wanted to climb up into it.

We didn't stay long, because Kathleen offered to meet us at the ISM.

We'd packed a picnic lunch, so we went to the open space between the museums to have a little picnic.

It was a Beautiful day for a picnic.

I can't make up this sky. And though the boys were scared to picnic next to these huge flowers, and the bees that came to visit them, I loved seeing all the critters comes and go from a respectful distance on the grass. I'd forgotten a blanket, so we just plopped down for a picnic on the grass, which I loved, but the boys were annoyed with. While we were picnicking, our friends arrived.

We met the Julius girls, and baby John out behind the State Museum.

Party of 7, 7, can you believe that?!

Welcome to Indiana State Museum.

This INDIANA sculpture is by Robert Indiana, and the kids think it's very cool.

Inside the museum is a giant pendelum that swings around and knocks down dominos to tell time.

First we went through a history of Indiana, and the rest of the earth underneath, from a point of view heavy on geology and biology, then we came upstairs to a more modern, Indiana history, from the revolutionary, to present...I say present, but there were a few things in my house. I saw toys I played with as a kid, posters from shows I used to watch (Peggy and the Vantastics, Cowboy Bob!), a TV in a case, that looks like the one we have downstairs. Does that mean my stuff is so old, I am a part of history? Probably.

Well, it was still really cool.

And a bit exhausting for Jacob. He slept on the way in to town, so I thought he'd crash on the way home...nope he crashed by the pendelum, I guess they really are that hypnotizing.

We went to the Mastadons vs. Mammoths exhibit.

And the kids got to dig for bones among rubber sand. That was pretty cool.

I learned how to fairly easily tell the difference between a Mastadon and a Mammoth.

Mammoths have curling tusks.

Then it was time to go, the kids were starting to get ootzy.

But we stopped for snacks in the cafe (which I need to go back!), we didn't eat their food, we still had picnic leftovers, but they had some yummy looking stuff, I may need to do lunch there, including the Ayres Tea Room chicken velvet soup. Oh yeah. Apparently Ayres Tea Room, moved from the L.S. Ayres building downtown, where we used to go for epic shopping trips once a year with my Grandma, floor by floor, culminating in a lunch date to end all lunches. But during the year, they only open it for group reservations... until the holidays, then we will be able to just pop in for tea, soup, etc. And pop in, I shall. My favorite sport is doing lunch, you know.

Anyway, as we were in the Cafe, Kat and I were talking about the China exhibit at the Children's Museum. They had a 'Great Wall Slide' in the lobby, and they were going to be shutting it down this weekend. I mentioned how I wish I'd been able to take the boys over there. But we hadn't been able to do so. Suddenly, the boys are begging me to go the Museum. What?! 3 museums in one day! What is this - Chicago?! We can't do that. Only...we did.

I took the boys to the Chinese slide at the museum.

Only, as I was waiting at the bottom, Chris came flying down, and Sam had a freakout, so some kindly grandmother put him on her lap, and slid down with him. Something to be said about having an extra adult for one upstairs and downstairs. I probably won't be that kind of crazy for a while, but we did get to pop in to the China exhibit, and it was pretty awesome. We'll be going back after school starts.